Just so you know I’m not going to go easy on him. Dan Andrews (DA) is a politician with a background in marketing. He is a master of spin and manipulation so let’s pull back the veil of misdirection and see what he has really done under in.
First Lockdown
Victoria was the last state to release its lockdown measures and when it did it was the hardest and strictest in the country. The first lockdown was absolutely necessary but other states with less strict measures managed to deal with the problem just as effectively so was the super strict lockdown really necessary? The other point I want to make is why were we the last? For days, Victorians were left in limbo as to what we were going to be able to do and not do. Is it just me or does it feel like DA simply loves the spotlight and enjoyed the fact that everyone waited for him so he could politically grandstand?
Verdict – 3/10
Hotel Quarantine
What a debacle. If you live in Victoria and haven’t heard the news you must be in a coma. What you might not have picked up on is the skill with which DA has masterfully mitigated political damage with well rehearsed rebuttal and spin. The political manoeuvring he has undertaken would have been enough to save Nixon from the Watergate scandal. Sure, he set up an inquiry. But, he kind of had to and it has been his go to answer for all questions regarding hotel quarantine, which is to deflect to the inquiry and avoid giving an answer. And this inquiry has spent weeks investigating why the system failed. An answer we already know and giving DA time for the rage to settle and the criticism to dissipate whilst failing to answer the questions that Victoria want answered. Just for the record, hotel quarantine failed because we had low skilled, low paid and ill-equipped workers with zero chain of accountability being charged with hotel quarantine and the health of Victoria. The questions needing answered are who’s idea was it to use private security, why it was considered the best alternative and who signed off on it?
Verdict 1/10
Testing
I have blogged about this before. Click here if you’re interested. Essentially, when we were in the dawn of the second wave the time for testing blew out to five days. During the first lockdown we had three months to get our testing procedures as accurate and efficient and exhaustive as possible. When it came to testing we should have prepared for the worst where community transmission was rife like we have seen in other countries. We needed to aim for 50 thousand tests a day with a 24 hour turn around. We couldn’t even manage 10 thousand.
Verdict 1/10
Contact Tracing
Just to be clear, this is not a critique of our contact tracing teams that have worked tirelessly and diligently through the pandemic. This is focused on the DA involvement. Firstly, with a five day turn around on tests, the contact tracers are on a hiding to nothing as they are starting five days behind. But, where other states, like NSW, have managed to stay ahead of the curve Victoria has not. Probably because they are under resourced and DA didn’t accept any federal or interstate help until it was too late.
Verdict 2/10
Second Lockdown
After it was clear that it was impossible to contain the second outbreak and there was too much community transmission to control we had to head back to the only measure that has worked for DA, lockdown. If you thought the first lockdown was strict, you ain’t seen nothing yet! No household visits, only groups of two outside of the house, only allowed out for one hour a day, nothing open but the pharmacy and supermarket open, not allowed more than 5 km from home and a curfew of 8pm. We were threatened with police action and fines for noncompliance. In some cases, people were virtually imprisoned in their own home. Victoria was drowning and DA had his foot firmly on our head holding us under water. The lockdown was necessary, but we, the people of Victoria, were made to feel like criminals. Like we were the ones at fault when it wasn’t. We also know that the Victorian chief health officer or the police did not request the curfew. In fact they both said it was unnecessary. So why do we have it DA? The lockdown has worked but at what cost? The economy is on life support and the community morale is at an all time low. It could have been handled better. Way better.
Verdict 3/10
Communication
DA would have you believe that he has fronted up to the media everyday and answered all questions. Well, he has rocked up everyday but has he really answered all questions? You have probably heard him repeatedly say three things. “I take responsibility”, “It is inappropriate for me answer whilst there is an inquiry going on”, and “I am simply focused on defeating the virus”. Textbook political answers to deflect difficult questions and leave them unanswered.
The other thing that has really annoyed me is the timing of his press conferences. He is constantly late and his really big announcements have been constantly vague on the time of his speech. On the 6th of September he promised to make an announcement about the easing of restrictions. He just didn’t tell us what time. So, we waited all morning for the great and glorious DA to inform us for how much longer he would be suffocating us with restrictions. You know what, I think he loves it. I think he enjoys having all of our attention. I think his only regret is that it is just Victoria waiting for him and not the whole country.
Verdict 2/10
The Inquiry
Well the inquiry wrapped up yesterday and from Dans point of view it couldn’t have worked out better. It bought him time for the rage of the people to soften and he wasn’t implicated and his personal inquisition was decidedly soft. So let’s look at the facts. The Honourable Jennifer Coate AO was appointed as the chair of the inquiry. Was this a politically motivated appointment? I honestly hope not but you can’t be sure. She seemed to go surprisingly easy on DA and after three months we failed to get an answer to the number one question. Who decided on Private Security for hotel quarantine? At the end of the day, DA now has leeway to bury the whole thing, Jenny Mikakos got thrown under the bus and we didn’t learn anything. What a complete waste of time.
If we study what we know there are simply two alternatives. Either DA told the truth or he didn’t. If he did tell the truth and he doesn’t know who greenlighted private security it shows incompetent leadership and he should go. If he lied he has either protected himself or others close to him that have made decisions that have lead to the deaths of almost 800 Victorians. If that happened in the private sector someone would be going to jail. Either way he should go. This inquiry was a sham and did nothing more than serve the political needs of DA.
Verdict 1/10
Other stuff
During the pandemic we have really only had two big pieces of news worth mentioning. First, branch stacking in the Victorian labor party. DA is the head of the VLP and he has had the job for 10 years. There is no way to deflect the blame, it all comes down to you DA, but I guess you are accountable for nothing.
The other piece of news was to silence victims of sexual abuse from speaking out. Yes, you are the victim and your actions in the aftermath are suppressed. Fortunately that legislation was removed but it just goes to show the incompetence of the Victorian government.
Verdict 1/10
Summary
Personally, I think DA is a very smart man and I refuse to believe that he didn’t know exactly what was going on. I think he engaged private security to curry favour with the United Workers Union which was a solid political decision but clearly not in the interests of Victoria or Australia. He has always played a solid political game and some people actually fall for his spin and think he has done a good job. Even if he has successfully defeated the second wave, praising him is like rewarding someone for extinguishing a fire that they started or paying half a billion dollars to NOT build a road (Yes, DA really did that too). As a final word I just want to say, Dan Andrews, you would better serve Victoria if you were on the dole.
Total 14/80
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